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Neuer Katalysator vereinfacht Sonnenergiegewinnung
« on: August 04, 2008, 02:24:13 PM »

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html

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'Major discovery' from MIT primed
to unleash solar revolution

Scientists mimic essence of plants' energy storage system
Anne Trafton, News Office
July 31, 2008

In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from
a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy
source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to
large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun
doesn't shine.
 
Daniel Nocera describes new process for storing solar energy
View video post on MIT TechTV
http://newsoffice.techtv.mit.edu/file/1243/

Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy
source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is
prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today's
announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple,
inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.
Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials,
this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free
energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what
we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel
Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and
senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31
issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited,
far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power
as unlimited and soon."
Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Nocera
and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera's lab,
have developed an unprecedented process that will allow the
sun's energy to be used to split water into hydrogen and
oxygen gases. Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be
recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to
power your house or your electric car, day or night.
The key component in Nocera and Kanan's new process is a
new catalyst that produces oxygen gas from water; another
catalyst produces valuable hydrogen gas. The new catalyst
consists of cobalt metal, phosphate and an electrode, placed in
water. When electricity --Âwhether from a photovoltaic cell, a
wind turbine or any other source --Âruns through the
electrode, the cobalt and phosphate form a thin film on the
electrode, and oxygen gas is produced.
Combined with another catalyst, such as platinum, that can
produce hydrogen gas from water, the system can duplicate
the water splitting reaction that occurs during photosynthesis.
The new catalyst works at room temperature, in neutral pH
water, and it's easy to set up, Nocera said. "That's why I
know this is going to work. It's so easy to implement," he said.
'Giant leap' for clean energy
Sunlight has the greatest potential of any power source to
solve the world's energy problems, said Nocera. In one hour,
enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet's
energy needs for one year.
James Barber, a leader in the study of photosynthesis who
was not involved in this research, called the discovery by
Nocera and Kanan a "giant leap" toward generating clean,
carbon-free energy on a massive scale.
"This is a major discovery with enormous implications for the
future prosperity of humankind," said Barber, the Ernst Chain
Professor of Biochemistry at Imperial College London. "The
importance of their discovery cannot be overstated since it
opens up the door for developing new technologies for energy
production thus reducing our dependence for fossil fuels and
addressing the global climate change problem."
'Just the beginning'
Currently available electrolyzers, which split water with
electricity and are often used industrially, are not suited for
artificial photosynthesis because they are very expensive and
require a highly basic (non-benign) environment that has little
to do with the conditions under which photosynthesis
operates.
Â
More engineering work needs to be done to integrate the new
scientific discovery into existing photovoltaic systems, but
Nocera said he is confident that such systems will become a
reality.
Â
"This is just the beginning," said Nocera, principal investigator
for the Solar Revolution Project funded by the Chesonis
Family Foundation and co-director of the Eni-MIT Solar
Frontiers Center. "The scientific community is really going to
run with this."
Nocera hopes that within 10 years, homeowners will be able
to power their homes in daylight through photovoltaic cells,
while using excess solar energy to produce hydrogen and
oxygen to power their own household fuel cell.
Electricity-by-wire from a central source could be a thing of
the past.
The project is part of the MIT Energy Initiative, a program
designed to help transform the global energy system to meet
the needs of the future and to help build a bridge to that future
by improving today's energy systems. MITEI Director Ernest
Moniz, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and
Engineering Systems, noted that "this discovery in the Nocera
lab demonstrates that moving up the transformation of our
energy supply system to one based on renewables will depend
heavily on frontier basic science."
Â
The success of the Nocera lab shows the impact of a mixture
of funding sources - governments, philanthropy, and industry.
This project was funded by the National Science Foundation
and by the Chesonis Family Foundation, which gave MIT $10
million this spring to launch the Solar Revolution Project, with
a goal to make the large scale deployment of solar energy
within 10 years.
IMAGES
 
Photo / Donna Coveney
Daniel G. Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of
Energy at MIT, has developed a simple method to split
water molecules and produce oxygen gas, a discovery that
paves the way for large-scale use of solar power. Enlarge
image (no JavaScript)
 
Photo / Tom White, MIT
MIT researchers have developed a new catalyst,
consisting of cobalt metal, phosphate and an electrode.
When the catalyst is placed in water and electricity runs
through the electrode, oxygen gas is produced. When
another catalyst is used to produce hydrogen gas, the
oxygen and hydrogen can be combined inside a fuel cell,
creating carbon-free electricity to power a house or an
electric car, day or night. Enlarge image (no JavaScript)
 
Graphic / Patrick Gillooly, MIT
With Daniel Nocera's and Matthew Kanan's new catalyst,
homeowners could use their solar panels during the day to
power their home, while also using the energy to split
water into hydrogen and oxygen for storage. At night, the
stored hydrogen and oxygen could be recombined using a
fuel cell to generate power while the solar panels are
inactive. Enlarge image (no JavaScript)

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CONTACT
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MIT News Office
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RELATED
MIT, Eni announce energy research partnership - MIT
News Office, 1/15/2008
MIT Energy Initiative

Nocera Lab at MIT
http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/dgn/www/

Daniel G. Nocera - MIT Department of Chemistry
Harnessing solar energy like plants do - MIT News
Office, 6/20/2008
MIT, Chesonis Foundation announce solar revolution -
MIT News Office, 4/22/2008
Whales to Wood, Wood to Coal/Oil -- Whatâ ™s Next? -
Daniel Nocera lecture, MIT World video
A recipe for solar energy: learning from nature - MIT
Energy Initiative
More: Chemistry and chemical engineering
More: Energy
More: Solar energy

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